Catastrophe Claims: Insurance Coverage for Natural and Man-Made Disasters
Claim Investigation, Policy Interpretation, Agent and Broker Liability, Major Exclusions, Insured and Policyholder Perspectives
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will discuss the evolving trends and key coverage issues triggered by natural and man-made disasters, which produce claims under nearly every type of insurance in the marketplace. The program will explore the types of property and liability insurance involved and offer practical guidance on claim investigation, policy interpretation, and advocating for or against the major exclusions involved in catastrophe claims.
Outline
- Overview of catastrophe insurance and risk management
- Claim handling issues
- Agent and broker liability
- The critical role of causation in determining coverage for disaster losses
- Property insurance coverage issues
- Insuring agreement interpretation
- Exclusions
- Time element coverages
- Business interruption claims
- Coverage for extra expenses
- Liability insurance for disasters triggered by human activities
- Trends and recent developments
Benefits
The panel will review these and other relevant issues:
- What are the most critical issues and practical considerations when addressing catastrophic claims?
- What are the essential coverage issues in catastrophic claims?
- What are best practices for determining the cause of loss, value of the loss, and interpreting the terms of the policy?
- What legal effects have more frequent and more catastrophic disasters had on insurance coverage?
- How do courts treat exclusions, concurrent causation, and anti-concurrent causation policy provisions?
- How does the language of typical commercial property and liability policies impact coverage for losses from natural and man-made disasters?
- How to minimize the potential for claims of bad faith in handling catastrophe claims
Faculty
Huhnsik Chung
Partner
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
Mr. Chung represents national and international clients in major insurance and reinsurance litigation and arbitration... | Read More
Mr. Chung represents national and international clients in major insurance and reinsurance litigation and arbitration matters. As a sought out adviser for his deep understanding of the insurance sector, he has served as lead counsel in many reinsurance and commercial proceedings in the U.S. and abroad, and is regularly called upon to resolve complex commercial disputes arising from the business of insurance. Mr. Chung also provides insurance regulatory, licensing and structuring advice to insurance industry clients. His insurance and reinsurance advisory and litigation practice focuses not only on the commercial markets, but also on the energy industry with an emphasis on oil and gas companies and utilities insured through industry mutuals and captives where contracts are governed by New York law. He has advised insurers and reinsurers on matters related to first- and third-party losses arising from major disasters and catastrophes involving oil rigs and platforms, risers, tankers, pipelines, blowouts, explosions, wildfires, mining disasters, war and terrorism, toxic torts and pollution.
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John N. Ellison
Partner
Reed Smith
Mr. Ellison’s practice concentrates in the insurance coverage area exclusively on behalf of policyholders. His... | Read More
Mr. Ellison’s practice concentrates in the insurance coverage area exclusively on behalf of policyholders. His clients range from Fortune 50 companies to small closely held companies. Mr. Ellison has a wide variety of experience in the insurance coverage field. He is also co-lead counsel for many of the world's large financial institutions regarding mortgage crisis-related insurance issues. He has also handled claims under D&O policies, fidelity bonds, first-party property policies and other liability insurance products, as well as prosecuting successfully bad faith claims against many of the large insurance organizations. Mr. Ellison has successfully obtained recoveries for environmental liabilities, asbestos related claims and other toxic torts. In addition, he also regularly counsels his clients on insurance-related issues, spanning from structuring insurance programs to reviewing policy wording and related documentation. In addition to his active practice on behalf of policyholders, Mr. Ellison regularly lectures around the world on insurance coverage topics and has published numerous articles in national journals and periodicals.
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James E. Fitzgerald
Partner
Drinker Biddle & Reath
Mr. Fitzgerald represents insurance companies and major corporations around the country in complex commercial... | Read More
Mr. Fitzgerald represents insurance companies and major corporations around the country in complex commercial litigation matters, including coverage disputes, bad faith claims, fraud claims and commercial business disputes, and defense of claims against professionals, including directors and officers. He has tried more than 40 jury cases in federal and state courts around the country, and has handled numerous arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association, Independent Film and Television Alliance, National Association of Securities Dealers, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Mr. Fitzgerald also advises major corporations in connection with internal corporate investigations concerning both civil and criminal liability. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at CLE programs and other presentations on the topics of insurance coverage, bad faith, claims handling, and general litigation and trial skills.
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Geoffrey J. Greeves
Partner
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
Mr. Greeves recovers insurance proceeds for corporate policyholders in disputed claims, coverage litigation matters,... | Read More
Mr. Greeves recovers insurance proceeds for corporate policyholders in disputed claims, coverage litigation matters, adversary proceedings, and using arbitration, mediation and negotiation. He routinely handles business tort litigation from inception through appeal. Mr. Greeves has tried more than a dozen commercial litigation matters, handling several jury trials, and recently obtained the largest insurance jury verdict ($71.7 million) in the U.S. in coverage litigation for a petrochemical refiner against its various property insurers. Spanning 20 years in insurance recovery practice in hotly disputed insurance claims involving man-made and natural disasters such as 9/11, the Nashville floods, ValuJet flight 592, the Deepwater Horizon incident, earthquakes in Chile and Japan, Superstorm Sandy and various other hurricanes, Mr. Greeves has achieved numerous eight-figure settlements for his clients. He acts as a trusted counselor, using his knowledge of insurance products and prior claims experience to provide legal advice to clients at renewal and in connection with non-routine insurance manuscript products.
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